Update 6/14/23:
Dear Friends of the Okemos Solar Racing Club,
Since our last update, we have made considerable progress on the car in both the mechanical and electrical departments and our fundraising efforts have ramped up as well. However, with our departure date—July 10—looming we have no time to celebrate and our members have committed to driving our car 900 miles to victory.
Dear Friends of the Okemos Solar Racing Club,
Since our last update, we have made considerable progress on the car in both the mechanical and electrical departments and our fundraising efforts have ramped up as well. However, with our departure date—July 10—looming we have no time to celebrate and our members have committed to driving our car 900 miles to victory.
Big news on the mechanical side: after months of preparation, drilling nonstop during every meeting to ensure the success of his project, our team member Aniket successfully completed the roll bar project--which will protect the driver's head in the event of a roll over. We would like to thank Century Roll for graciously donating us this critically important structural component for our car.
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With the roll bar finally secured, we are now able to finish up the safety harness, which currently is only composed of the lap and submarine belts (which have been finalized since our last update).
Additionally, we have tweaked our steering system in efforts to avoid interference with our solar panels. After ordering new bearings and testing different wheel positions, we came up with the following configuration:
Additionally, we have tweaked our steering system in efforts to avoid interference with our solar panels. After ordering new bearings and testing different wheel positions, we came up with the following configuration:
We are currently in the design phase for the development of our crush zones. These will be finalized within the coming week and by the next update they will be fully fitted onto the car.
Early on in our testing phases, we had noticed that our front wheels tended to vibrate when we applied the brakes violently which was very concerning as it caused our rubber tires to wear and increased our stopping distance. Fortunately, we had accounted for this and were just waiting for some finalization of frontal components in order to solve this issue. Now, we have cut down the bike stems and fitted them with top caps, fully clamping down our frontal wheel assemblies, significantly reducing the vibrations in our front tires.
Finally, our mechanical team has been working on finalizing our double brake caliper mount, which will allow us to have both the primary and secondary braking systems functioning once we finally get the part machined.
Early on in our testing phases, we had noticed that our front wheels tended to vibrate when we applied the brakes violently which was very concerning as it caused our rubber tires to wear and increased our stopping distance. Fortunately, we had accounted for this and were just waiting for some finalization of frontal components in order to solve this issue. Now, we have cut down the bike stems and fitted them with top caps, fully clamping down our frontal wheel assemblies, significantly reducing the vibrations in our front tires.
Finally, our mechanical team has been working on finalizing our double brake caliper mount, which will allow us to have both the primary and secondary braking systems functioning once we finally get the part machined.
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Our telemetry team has successfully worked out the speedometer which will track both our speed and distance throughout the race. Our telemetry, electrical, and mechanical teams are all hard at work now to mount and wire our dashboard and all of the components associated with it, including our turn signal, our car horn, our low voltage alarm system, and more.
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Finally, the electrical team has been chipping away at getting the solar panels hooked up to the battery for the first time. We found out that we were missing a wire required in our charge controller and are now just waiting for it to arrive before we hit the ground running and get the panels mounted and collecting solar power.
That is all for this update. Once more thank you to all for supporting our club and we look forward to seeing you in the next update!
Sincerely,
The Okemos Solar Racing Club
Sincerely,
The Okemos Solar Racing Club
Update 5/26/23:
Dear Friends of the Okemos Solar Racing Club,
In these past three months, our members have been hard at work gearing up for the 2023 Solar Car Challenge. Additionally, we apologize for the lack of updates on our progress. Going forward, we aim to send biweekly updates to you all. With that said, we want to let you know everything that has happened since our last update!
Dear Friends of the Okemos Solar Racing Club,
In these past three months, our members have been hard at work gearing up for the 2023 Solar Car Challenge. Additionally, we apologize for the lack of updates on our progress. Going forward, we aim to send biweekly updates to you all. With that said, we want to let you know everything that has happened since our last update!
A week after our February update, our former captain and founder Will Jones visited us. While he was there, he gave a seminar, answered questions, and provided feedback on how the car could be improved upon:
Will Jones seminar 2/24/23
In March, our mechanical team started adding key components to progress our car we now have a name for, "The Leadsled MK II." First, we mounted our two pedals. Using a go-kart pedal, we hooked it to our cable brakes which provided good tensile strength for braking. Simultaneously, we attached our accelerator pedal to our motor, which will spin it to life.
Currently, our mechanical team is working on the 5-point safety harness, the windshield to encompass the driver, and the new rear wheel lock system, that won't interfere with the solar panels.
Will Jones seminar 2/24/23
In March, our mechanical team started adding key components to progress our car we now have a name for, "The Leadsled MK II." First, we mounted our two pedals. Using a go-kart pedal, we hooked it to our cable brakes which provided good tensile strength for braking. Simultaneously, we attached our accelerator pedal to our motor, which will spin it to life.
Currently, our mechanical team is working on the 5-point safety harness, the windshield to encompass the driver, and the new rear wheel lock system, that won't interfere with the solar panels.
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While the mech team was heavily occupied, our electrical team was just as busy. We built a battery box to protect our battery from the elements and wired up the HV enclosure to protect the fuse and prevent discharge.
Currently, our electrical team is working on the supplemental system which involves all of the non-propulsion-related components such as our turn signal, the power for the relay contactors, our car horn, etc.
After months of work, the electrical division was able to power the car with our battery (Thank you Signature Solar!) and we ran our first tests throughout March and April.
Currently, our electrical team is working on the supplemental system which involves all of the non-propulsion-related components such as our turn signal, the power for the relay contactors, our car horn, etc.
After months of work, the electrical division was able to power the car with our battery (Thank you Signature Solar!) and we ran our first tests throughout March and April.
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However, we ran into quite a few issues on these first few drives involving the chain in our powered wheel. Our chain tensioner was too loose, and when the motor spun, the chain would pull on the fork mount, causing it to deform. To fix this, metal was welded onto the fork mount, further reinforcing it.
The tensioner issue was fixed by drilling a hole in the tensioner to adjust the spring placement. In return, this decreased the risk of our chain coming off. Below is a video of how the car operated before and after the tensioner was fixed.
Chain Tensioner
With these issues fixed, and AP exams over, we were able to have our first truly successful test drives. The following video contains drives from the last two weeks.
Recent Test Drives
Recently, our business division reached out to many new sponsors and we are planning local outreach activities. Currently, we are looking to raise at least $8000 to completely cover registration, spare parts, gas, travel, and maintain the future of the club.
The next major milestone for us is testing the car with solar panels on and driving with purely solar power.
This is all for our second update. We thank all of you for your support in our endeavors. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. See you in our next update!
Sincerely,
The Okemos Solar Racing Club
The tensioner issue was fixed by drilling a hole in the tensioner to adjust the spring placement. In return, this decreased the risk of our chain coming off. Below is a video of how the car operated before and after the tensioner was fixed.
Chain Tensioner
With these issues fixed, and AP exams over, we were able to have our first truly successful test drives. The following video contains drives from the last two weeks.
Recent Test Drives
Recently, our business division reached out to many new sponsors and we are planning local outreach activities. Currently, we are looking to raise at least $8000 to completely cover registration, spare parts, gas, travel, and maintain the future of the club.
The next major milestone for us is testing the car with solar panels on and driving with purely solar power.
This is all for our second update. We thank all of you for your support in our endeavors. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. See you in our next update!
Sincerely,
The Okemos Solar Racing Club
Update 2/19/23:
It has been nearly three years since our last update so we would like to inform you of all that has happened since then. After our success in 2019, where we placed second in the nation, the club was unfortunately disbanded due to the pandemic, and the car was scrapped. However, since January of 2022, our team has been hard at work gearing up for the big Solar Car Challenge, a competition where around 40 high school teams will race from Dallas, Texas to Palmdale, California over an eight-day period.
Beginning in March of last year, we began our design process, taking into consideration major factors and creating rough sketches of what the car would look like. As the design process continued, more questions arose: How big will the driver compartment be? What battery should we use and how do we reduce weight? To answer these questions and to get a better grasp of the competition, our two leaders, Junseo Hong and David Shi, attended the 2022 Solar Car Challenge in Dallas, Texas with former OSRC captains Will Jones and Eric Andrecheck.
After coming back from this week-long event, our club solidified our design with the aid of CAD and computer simulations. Soon after, we were purchasing parts and buying metal for the frame and our team members were learning essential skills like welding, modeling, and financing.
It has been nearly three years since our last update so we would like to inform you of all that has happened since then. After our success in 2019, where we placed second in the nation, the club was unfortunately disbanded due to the pandemic, and the car was scrapped. However, since January of 2022, our team has been hard at work gearing up for the big Solar Car Challenge, a competition where around 40 high school teams will race from Dallas, Texas to Palmdale, California over an eight-day period.
Beginning in March of last year, we began our design process, taking into consideration major factors and creating rough sketches of what the car would look like. As the design process continued, more questions arose: How big will the driver compartment be? What battery should we use and how do we reduce weight? To answer these questions and to get a better grasp of the competition, our two leaders, Junseo Hong and David Shi, attended the 2022 Solar Car Challenge in Dallas, Texas with former OSRC captains Will Jones and Eric Andrecheck.
After coming back from this week-long event, our club solidified our design with the aid of CAD and computer simulations. Soon after, we were purchasing parts and buying metal for the frame and our team members were learning essential skills like welding, modeling, and financing.
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When the school year started, we began constructing the solar car, starting with the metal frame and moving onto smaller sub-assemblies like the steering, wheels, and suspension.
We found hubs, spokes, rims, and tires, making sure that all of the parts purchased were compatible with one another. We then had the wheels custom-made (Thank you Denny’s Central Park Bicycles!) and attached the tires and tubes afterward. The tires were carefully selected in order to minimize rolling resistance, which will significantly increase our efficiency.
We found hubs, spokes, rims, and tires, making sure that all of the parts purchased were compatible with one another. We then had the wheels custom-made (Thank you Denny’s Central Park Bicycles!) and attached the tires and tubes afterward. The tires were carefully selected in order to minimize rolling resistance, which will significantly increase our efficiency.
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We then designed a motor mount in CAD, and had it cut using a water jet by the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, who visited us this fall. After attaching it to the frame, we ran a chain around both the wheel and the motor to get the wheel spinning for the first time! We also welded on fork mounts, which were generously donated by Holder Corporation. These mounts allow the forks which hold the wheels to securely attach to the frame.
Soon afterward, the steering system was completed, and just recently we were able to test drive the unpowered vehicle. To our surprise, the test was incredibly successful with the driving being very smooth!
Soon afterward, the steering system was completed, and just recently we were able to test drive the unpowered vehicle. To our surprise, the test was incredibly successful with the driving being very smooth!
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While our mechanical team focused on construction, our business division was busy obtaining sponsors and organizing fundraiser events. After reaching out to the Okemos Education Foundation, we were able to receive a whopping $2000 in aid! Additionally, we organized a bottle collection fundraiser, which raised around $500 in total! We also held several fundraising events at local restaurants, and this week, we are planning on raising more money at our school by selling candygrams, which our members worked diligently to put together just in time for Valentine’s Day. We hope to raise $10,000 by the time we compete this July in order to afford registration, transportation, and spare parts.
That is all for our first update. We would like to thank you all for your support in our recent endeavors.
Sincerely,
The Okemos Solar Racing Club
Update 8/23/22:
Okemos Solar Racing Club has returned to school after Covid. We have made good progress designing and planning out our car over the summer. Currently we have the car frame designed in CAD and we have a lot of the parts such as our solar panels ready to be used. We hope to start constructing the car soon and have it completed by next summer. There were lots of new faces signed up for the 22-23 school year during kickstart which was amazing and we can't wait to see how this year will turn out. We will do community events and fundraisers throughout the school year to help us finish our car and give back to the community. Be sure to check our website frequently as there will be monthly updates being posted, thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
The Okemos Solar Racing Club
Okemos Solar Racing Club has returned to school after Covid. We have made good progress designing and planning out our car over the summer. Currently we have the car frame designed in CAD and we have a lot of the parts such as our solar panels ready to be used. We hope to start constructing the car soon and have it completed by next summer. There were lots of new faces signed up for the 22-23 school year during kickstart which was amazing and we can't wait to see how this year will turn out. We will do community events and fundraisers throughout the school year to help us finish our car and give back to the community. Be sure to check our website frequently as there will be monthly updates being posted, thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
The Okemos Solar Racing Club
